Ryan Smith, owner of the NHL’s Utah Hockey Club and NBA’s Jazz, announced a new investment firm Tuesday aiming to help tech companies use sports as a growth lever.
Halo Experience Co. (HXCO), co-founded by tech investor Ryan Sweeney, has closed its first round of funding, with the option of raising up to $1 billion from investors, according to a public filing. Sweeney said he anticipates investing in roughly 20 companies over about three years, with the new firm based in Utah likely targeting growth-stage outfits to start.
HXCO is not focused on strictly sports tech companies—as past endeavors have—but rather any company that could use professional sports or live entertainment as a source of clients or attention. That includes a tech company that started by selling to sports organizations but is looking to branch into healthcare or education. It could also include a business software startup that might benefit from the exposure and legitimacy sports or entertainment partnerships provide. HXCO doesn’t plan to invest in teams themselves.
“A lot of people are doing sports funds; that’s not what this is,” Smith said. “We’re bringing tech into sports.”
Smith co-founded experience management platform company Qualtrics in 2002. Ten years later, Qualtrics raised a $70 million round co-led by Accel, where Sweeney remains a partner. Qualtrics was valued at $12.5 billion when a group of investors acquired the company in 2023.
Smith bought the Jazz for $1.66 billion in 2020 and brought the NHL to Salt Lake City in a $1.2 billion deal last year. Sweeney is a minority owner in both franchises. In addition to Qualtrics, Sweeney has invested in and worked with tech companies including Atlassian, Squarespace and Venmo, among others. In 2022, Smith invested in SeatGeek alongside Accel.
HXCO is a new joint venture that exists separately from Accel or Smith Entertainment Group. Many of the limited partner investors will come from outside the world of sports.
“I’ve been trying to convince Ryan Smith to become an investor with me for a long time,” Sweeney said. “He’s the best operator, he’s the best entrepreneur, he’s the best people person, he’s the best forward-thinker in technology that I’ve ever worked with.”
Launching the fund in a moment of economic uncertainty, Smith pointed to his time operating Qualtrics through the 2008-09 downturn, as well as his decision to acquire the Jazz during the chaotic COVID-19 pandemic.
“You have to be kind of market-agnostic,” he said.
(This story has been updated in the third paragraph to clarify HXCO’s focus.)
